Oil pan drain plug assembly



June 11, 1968 I it f J I P. J. SCHAFF 3,387,621

OIL PAN DRAIN PLUG ASSEMBLY Filed July 21, 1965 Peter J. .SchaffINVENTOR.

BY WWW mm Patented June 11, 1968 3,387,621 OIL PAN DRAM PLUG ASSEMBLYPeter J. Sehati, Benson, Ariz. (St. David, Ariz. 85630) Filed July 21,1965, Ser. No. 473,781 1 Claim. (Cl. 137-322) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREAn oil pan drain assembly including an inverted upright headed tubulardrain plug screwed into the bottom wall of an oil pan. The tubular plugwall contains a slotted portion in an area immediately above the oil panbottom wall thereby allowing drainage through the tubular plug. Acylindrical and slidable valve is disposed within the tubular plug andis normally positioned over the interior aperture of the slottedportion, for occluding drainage from the oil pan. At such time whendraining of the pan is desired, a tubular tool is screwed into thetubular plug which engages the cylindrical valve and slides the valvefrom the slotted portion of the tubular drain plug thereby exposing theslot opening to the oil contained in the pan. As a result, the oil exitsfrom the pan and passes through the tubular drain plug and tubular toolto a collecting receptacle below. Removal of the tool returns the valveto its initially closed position to prevent further drainage.

This invention relates to a novel and useful oil pan drain plug assemblyand more specifically to an apparatus which is adapted to be secured inthe oil drain outlet opening in an oil pan and to provide a suitableclosure member for the drain opening.

The drain plug assembly includes an inverted upright headed tubulardrain plug member which may be removably secured in the drain opening ofan oil pan with the head of the drain plug member abutt-ed against theouter surfaces of the oil pan disposed about the drain opening. The headof the drain plug member is short in axial length as are the heads ofconventional solid drain plugs and the upper end of the tubular drainplug member adapted to be disposed Within the associated oil pan isprovided with axially movable valve means to close the tubular drainplug member immediately above that portion of the drain plug memberpassing through the oil pan. The valve member is yieldingly urged towarda closed position adjacent the head of the tubular member and may bepushed upwardly to an open position by an implement inserted in thelower end of the inverted tubular drain plug member and to a levelspaced slightly above the dial seat.

The tubular drain plug member includes radial oil drain openingsdisposed immediately above the seat for the valve member and these drainopenings are therefore ineffective to drain oil from the associated oilpan when the valve member is in its lowermost closed position in seatedengagement with the seat provided therefor. The valve member is notprovided to establish a reliable closure for the tubular drain plugmember but only as a temporary closure therefor, a removable closuremember similar to a conventional drain plug being provided for threadedengagement with the lower end of the tubular drain plug member toestablish a closure member for the drain plug assembly during operationof the associated engine on which the oil pan is mounted.

In order to drain oil from the associated oil pan, the small drain plugis removed from the lower end of the tubular drain plug member and anexternally threaded tubular member including oil outlet openings in itsupper end and a projection on its upper end adapted to be engaged withthe valve member of the drain plug assembly is threadedly engaged in thelower end of the tubular member. After being threaded upwardly into thetubular drain plug member, the projection on the upper end of theexternally threaded tubular member will engage the valve member andaxially upwardly displace the latter in order to open the tubular drainplug member thereby allowing oil within the oil pan to pass through thedrain openings formed in the tubular drain plug member and the outletopenings in the upper end of the externally threaded tubular member tothereafter flow outwardly of the lower end of the externally threadedtubular member.

Although drain plug assemblies including valve members resiliently urgedinto seating engagment with valve seats facing inwardly of a drain plugassembly have heretofore been provided, these previous drain plugassemblies have not been readily adaptable and specifically designed foruse on automotive oil pans since the manner in which they are to beoperatively associated with the oil container from which oil is to bedrained requires them to project considerably below the associated oilcontainer.

It is accordingly the main object of this invention to provide an oilpan drain plug assembly of the above aforementioned improved type whichincludes structural features enabling it to be removably secured withinan oil drain opening in the bottom of an oil pan with but a slightprojection of the drain plug assembly being disposed below the adjacentbottom surfaces of the associated oil pan.

Another object of this invention is to provide an oil pan drain plugassembly that will greatly facilitate the draining of oil from anassociated oil pan.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an oil pan drainplug assembly in accordance with the preceding objects that may bereadily constructed so as to be adaptable for use in connection withsubstantially all automotive oil pans.

A final object of this invention to be specifically enumerated herein isto provide an oil pan drain plug assembly in accordance with thepreceding objects and which will conform to conventional forms ofmanufacture, be of simple construction and easy to use so as to providea device that will be economically feasible, long lasting and relativelytrouble-free in operation.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of an oil pan shown with theoil pan drain plug assembly of the instant invention operativelyassociated therewith;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view takensubstantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 2-2 of FIGURE1;

FIGURE 3 is an exploded perspective view of the oil pan drain plugassembly and illustrating the manner in which the small drain plugelement of the assembly may be removed and replaced by the tubular oildraining conduit member of the drain plug assembly; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view similar to that ofFIGURE 2 but illustrating the manner in which the tubular oil drainconduit member may be utilized to unseat the valve member of the drainplug assembly and duct the oil being drained from the oil pan to theinlet end of an oil refuse hose.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings the numeral 10 generallydesignates an oil pan including a bottom wall 12 having a depressedportion 14 with a threaded outlet opening 16 therein.

The oil pan is conventional in design and of the type usually having aheaded bolt-type drain plug similar to but larger than the drain plugelement generally referred to by the reference numeral 18 in FIGURE 3 ofthe drawings removably secured therein.

The oil pan drain plug assembly of the instant invention is generallyreferred to by the reference numeral 26 and includes an inverted uprightheaded tubular drain plug member generally referred to by the referencenumeral 22. The drain plug member 22 includes an upright and externallythreaded body portion 24 including a centrally apertured head portion 26on its lower end. The head portion 26 is internally threaded as at 28and includes an upwardly opening circumferential groove 30 in its uppersurface 32 which extends about the base of the body portion 24. Thegroove 30 has an annular sealing ring 33 disposed therein which isadapted to sealingly engage a boss 34 formed on the bottom wall 12 aboutthe outlet opening 16. The tubular drain plug member 22 is seatinglythreaded in the outlet opening 16 and held in position relative to thebottom wall 12 against rotation by means of a pair of setscrews 36threadedly engaged in appropriate small diameter threaded bores 38formed in the head portion 26. The upper ends of the setscrews 36 arepointed as at 40' and frictionally engaged with the depressed portion 14of the bottom Wall 12.

The lower end of the body portion 24 includes generally radial oiloutlet openings 42 and defines an annular upwardly facing valve seat 44spaced immediately below a horizontal plane containing the oil outletopenings 42. A cup-shaped valve member 46 is slidably disposed in thebody portion 24 and yieldingly urged to a lowermost position in fluidsealing engagement with the seat 44 by means of a compression spring 48whose lower end is seated within the cup-shaped valve member and whoseupper end bears against an abutment washer 50. The upper end of the bodyportion 24- is provided with an inwardly opening circumferential groove52 in which a lock ring 54 is seated, the lock ring 54- serving to limitupward sliding movement of the abutment washer in the body portion 24.

The aforementioned drain plug element 18 is removably secured within thethreaded bore 28 for-med in the head portion 26 and a sealing washer 56is disposed between the upper surface of the head 58 of the drain plugelement 18 and the confronting surfaces of the head portion 26.

A tubular and externally threaded drain conduit member 60 is providedand includes a conical upper end portion 62 apertured as at 64. Thetubular drain conduit member 60 is threadedly engageable in the threadedbore 28 in lieu of the drain plug element 18 after the latter has beenremoved and the conical upper end portion or extension 62 of the drainconduit member 60 is engageable with the cup-shaped valve member 46 tourge the latter upwardly to a position disposed above the outletopenings 42, see FIGURE 4. A suitable oil refuse hose or conduit 66 mayhave its inlet end telescoped over the lower end of the drain conduitmember 60 and in this manner the oil 68 within the oil pan 10 may bedrained from the latter.

In operation, the tubular drain plug member 22 is secured in the oiloutlet opening 16 in a conventional manner and is illustrated in FIGURE2 of the drawings with the drain plug element 18 threadedly engaged inthe threaded bore 28. In this manner, the oil outlet opening 16 iscompletely closed in order to prevent the oil 68 from passing outwardlytherethrough.

When wishing to drain the oil 68 from the oil pan 10, the drain plugelement 18 is unthreaded from the bore 23. The cup-shaped valve memberwill prevent the oil 68 from flowing downwardly through the threadedbore 28 when the drain plug element 18 is removed and enable a mechanicto threadedly engage the drain conduit member 60 in the threaded bore 68without oil dripping on his hands. After the drain conduit member 60 hasbeen positioned as illustrated in FIGURE 4 of the drawings, the oil 68will pass through the radial openings or bores 42, the apertures 64, andthen downwardly through the drain conduit member 60 and into theflexible pipe or hose 66.

After all of the oil 68 has been drained from the oil pan 1% the drainconduit member 69 may be removed and replaced by the drain plug element18 in order to again fully close the lower end of the tubular drain pipemember 22.

From FIGURE 2 of the drawings it may be seen that the drain plugassembly 20 projects but a slight distance below the portions of thebottom wall 12 of the oil pan 10 disposed about the outlet opening 16.Therefore, it may be seen that the oil drain plug assembly may be usedas a replacement for conventional drain plugs without the drain plugassembly 22 projecting appreciably below the bottom wall 12. Thisadvantage of the oil drain plug assembly 20 is made possible by the factthat the automatic valving action of the assembly 20 defined by thecupshaped valve member is disposed inwardly of the outer end of the oiloutlet o ening 16.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents maybe resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An oil pan drain plug assembly for use with an oil pan, said oil panhaving a downwardly opening outlet formed therein, said drain plugassembly comprising an inverted upstanding and headed tubular drain plughousing of one piece construction and removably secured in said outlet,the oil pan confronting surface of the head of said plug housingincluding a circular recess therein, a sealing member disposed withinsaid recess wherein the oil pan confronting portion of said sealingmember remains exposed to abut the outer surface of said oil pan, aplurality of set-screws contained within said head and adapted tofrictionally engage the outer surface of said oil pan to preventrotational motion of said plug housing, a second circular recess formedwithin the downwardly facing surface of said head, said plug housingincluding means defining oil drain opening means formed thereinincluding portions spaced above said head a distance adapted tocorrespond to the thickness of the portions of said oil pan disposedabove said outlet opening, said plug housing also including meansdefining an internal upwardly facing valve seat below the lowermostportions of said oil drain opening means, a rigid cup-shaped cylindricalvalve member having a planar bottom surface and reciprocatable in saidplug housing and shiftable between an inoperative upper positiondisposed above said oil drain opening means and a lower operativeposition in seated engagement with said seat and closing the lower endof said plug housing below said oil drain opening means, a coil springhaving one end seated in the valve member, means on the upper end ofsaid plug housing engaging the other end of the spring for yieldinglyurging said valve member toward said lower operative position, a tubulardrain conduit member including one end portion removably and threadablyinsertable in the lower end of said plug housing, said end portionhaving a conical tip with oil drain inlet openings therein, said conicaltip being flat at the upper end and in rotatable engagement with theplanar bottom surface of said valve member to inwardly displace thelatter by a selectable distance thereby opening the lower end of saidplug housing upon threading insertion of said conduit member upwardlyinto said plug housing to form a relatively tight fluid sealtherebetween when said conduit member is disposed in said plug housing,a second sealing member disposed within said aforementioned secondcircular recess formed within the downwardly facing surface 2,970,606 2/1961 \Villiams 251-l44 X of said head, and a blank drain plug clementremovably 3,022,797 2/1962 Allin 251-144 X seeurable within the head ofsaid plug housing in lieu of 1,659,047 2/1928 Quinn 184-1.5 X saidconduit member for occluding said oil drain opening 2,655,932 10/ 1953Lipman 251339 X means, said .plug element including a head, the uppersur- 2,983,385 5/ 1961 Botstiber 137454.5 X face of which engages saidsecond sealing member and 5 3,026,897 3/1962 Derrington et al. 137-315wherein the upper portion thereof is disposed within said 3,198,016 8/1965 POOImfln 251-339 X second fecess- FOREIGN PATENTS References Cited18,162 1888 Great Britain. UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 1,788,500 1/1931Uhfi 285 90 X ALAN COHAN, Prlmary Examiner.

2,890,718 6/1959 Smith 251-1494 X D. MATTHEWS, Assistant Examiner.

